The conflict in Northern Ireland left over 3,600 people dead and tens of thousands injured, but establishing who are victims and the very nature of victimhood has been difficult. In part this is due to the highly contested nature of the labels “victim” and “terrorist.” The present paper employed interpretative phenomenological analysis to gain a greater understanding of the conceptualisation of victimhood in Northern Ireland. Catholic and Protestant civilians, paramilitaries, politicians, security force personnel, and community activists who had experienced direct and/or indirect political violence were interviewed. Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed five themes related to internal, interpersonal, and macro aspects of victimhood. The participants illustrated how the label of victim was associated with both weakness and strength, depending on the audience. Interview responses also revealed that although participants were resilient, they suffered at least some temporary psychological trauma due to their exposure to political violence. In addition the analysis indicated that there was a psychological cost associated with perpetrating acts of political violence. These findings are discussed in relation to the need for a national or cross-national program of intergroup dialogue and truth recovery to provide closure to victims and reintegrate victims and perpetrators into the postconflict society
We investigated whether increases in tattooing rates and designs have eradicated or altered traditional delinquent tattooing stereotypes. We tested the perceived suitability of tattooed and non‐tattooed individuals for 2 different jobs. Affective evaluations mediated judgments of job suitability, with those displaying traditional tattoos being rated as less suitable for employment than those who were not tattooed and those displaying contemporary tattoos. Those with a contemporary tattoo were judged in the same manner as those who were not tattooed (even by observers who neither had a tattoo nor were considering getting one). These results suggest that the savage associations of tattooing continue for some, but suggest that for other tattoo enthusiasts, a new stereotype has emerged reflecting a shift toward respectability.
Former members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and organizers of peaceful civil rights organizations were interviewed to assess how these individuals interpreted the current social conditions in Post-Agreement Northern Ireland. Contrary to the intercommunity ideals of the Good Friday Agreement, our results suggest that people continue to exist in a society where political power is based on the division of communities, where ordinary people are not motivated to contribute to politics and where everyday life is fundamentally affected by the agreements of strongly opposed politicians. Analysis of transcripts revealed that people lived in a climate that presented violence as inappropriate yet effective. To that end, members of the community were negotiating a period of social psychological conflict and were described as living in a situation of unease rather than peace. Participants warned that conditions appear to be creating tensions that could lead to future violence.
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